Heating with wood does entail
some hazards, but most of them do not involve flue
fires. The most frequent fire hazard now comes from
people taking out the ashes! An incredible number
of people every year remove the ashes from the
stove, put them into a cardboard box, then put the
box on the back porch or steps.

Wood ashes are amazing in their
insulating ability. In the old days -- pre match --
people used to save some coals in a tin box full of
ashes -- the "tinder box." Coals would keep
overnight, then were placed by tinder, a bellows
blown at the coal, and the tinder would burst into
flame. Small sticks would then be added, then
larger pieces of wood, and soon a good fire was
going. Before the fire died out some hot coals were
placed back into the "tinder box" for use for the
next day's fire. This system was not perfect, and
neighbors shared coals at times, but it was way
ahead of whatever was in second place.

But I digress. Now on the back
porch, the coals heat up the cardboard, it starts
burning, then the floor of the porch becomes
involved, and 911 gets dialed. Bad news indeed.

Another problem comes from those
who think shop vac's are the greatest thing since
sliced bread. So they start to vacuum up the wood
ashes -- just once! -- and find that the incredible
draft generated by the shop vac would make a
blacksmith's forge melt from sheer fright. Even
minuscule embers become incredibly hot, creating an
intense fire hazard that can quickly melt the
plastic vent fitting and begin emitting hot flaming
particles into the house. Marvelous. Call 911
quickly.

Use a metal bucket with a bail
handle (like a 5 gallon galvanized garbage can) and
take it outside -- way outside -- and place it on
bricks or concrete for a couple of days. Because
the ash bucket can get rained on, punch a couple of
nail holes through the side near the bottom to
drain excess water. The ashes, when cold, may be
placed on the garden, in the chicken coop to kill
lice or mites, wherever.